March 02, 2015

Notes on Thailand (Part 1)

I was in Thailand from 23 Dec 2012 to 5 January 2013. This was for 5 nights in Koh Samui, 6 nights in Patong Beach, Phuket, and 1 night in Bangkok.

These notes are not meant to be exhaustive, and they represent only my limited and subjective experience during that time, along with some things I learned along the way. I've included some recommendations - feel free to ignore them.

These notes are from a South African, and slightly geeky, perspective.

May 14, 2006

the rites turns 4

January 15, 2006

Free-to-air TV channels on PAS7/10 in South Africa

A while ago I posted a rite on how to receive Don't Panic TV, which was a channel broadcasting adult (XXX) programming to Southern Africa off PAS7/10. It was interesting, because when they weren't broadcasting shows, their encryption was off, and you could see their advertising card. Also, they came with 2 Italian music channels. Don't Panic TV are no more (for now).

However, there are a couple of free-to-air (FTA) Ku-band channels available off PAS7/10 in South Africa, as of this entry (check LyngSat for the latest details).

I've put all the settings I know about down here, with their appropriate tuning settings. Read below for directions. If the directions don't work for you, that's not my problem. Don't bother contacting me - I won't respond.

Verify that LNB HI FREQUENCY is 10700. If it isn't, change it to 10700, and select ACCEPT THESE SETTINGS.

Press EXIT.

Now select DISH INSTALLATION, and press OK.

Enter the PIN number 9949.

Now select NETWORK CONFIGURATION and press OK.

Select each network setup from this screen, and enter the settings as below.

The first option is only there for reference. You should not change settings in the home network.

At each point, you may wish to select VIEW SIGNAL STRENGTH to check if that signal is valid for your installation.

Select ACCEPT THESE SETTINGS for each network setup when you are done.

If your decoder does not give you any options and goes straight to the parameter input menu then you have a decoder with old software. You will only be able to have either DStv or another FTA bouquet, one at a time.

Network setup details:

Network 1 Setup (home) [DStv South Africa @ PAS 7/10]

Signal Setup: Enabled

Orbital Position: PAS7/10

Use NIT: Yes

Frequency: 10970

Symbol Rate: 30000

Polarisation: Vertical

FEC: 5/6

Network 2 Setup [Sentech Vivid bouquet @ PAS 7/10]

Signal Setup: Enabled

Orbital Position: PAS7/10

Use NIT: Yes

Frequency: 11170

Symbol Rate: 266652

Polarisation: Vertical

FEC: 5/6

Network 3 Setup [BTV @ PAS 7/10]

Signal Setup: Enabled

Orbital Position: PAS7/10

Use NIT: Yes

Frequency: 11625

Symbol Rate: 15000

Polarisation: Vertical

FEC: 2/3

Network 4 Setup [FTV @ PAS 7/10]

Signal Setup: Enabled

Orbital Position: PAS7/10

Use NIT: Yes

Frequency: 12722

Symbol Rate: 26657

Polarisation: Horizontal

FEC: 2/3

Network 5 Setup [ManaSat @ PAS 7/10]

Signal Setup: Enabled

Orbital Position: PAS7/10

Use NIT: Yes

Frequency: 12577

Symbol Rate: 3378

Polarisation: Vertical

FEC: 3/4

Network 6 Setup [Novacom @ PAS 7/10]

Signal Setup: Enabled

Orbital Position: PAS7/10

Use NIT: Yes

Frequency: 12682

Symbol Rate: 26657

Polarisation: Horizontal

FEC: 1/2

Scanning:

Now press EXIT and go to the DISH INSTALLATION menu again.

Select SCAN ALL NETWORKS.

Your decoder will now attempt to scan and add all the channels.

Once it has tuned and returned to normal viewing mode, press the TV button to display the bouquet list.

Select the last option (Public PAS7/10).

You are now in the public TV bouquet. Scroll through the available channels, which will appear in the order of network setup (DStv test channels, Sentech channels, BTV, FTV, ManaSat, Novacom).

Pressing the AUDIO button will switch to the public audio bouquet. You may find many South African radio stations here.

Notes:

Some of these channels are encrypted.

There's really nothing here for free worth more than you're paying for it. :) You'll see that if you want premium channels, your DStv subscription is the way to go.

Your installation may not be capable of tuning into these settings.

Do this while watching an decrypted channel on DStv (e.g. channel 4).

You need to have your smart card inserted.

To enter a 4-digit symbol rate, place the cursor on the line, press the 0 (zero) key on your remote control, then press OK, then enter the 4 digit number, then press OK.

These settings work for me, on my Dual View decoder, as of this date.

If they don't work on your decoder, that's your problem, not mine.

If you mess up your decoder, that's your problem, not mine. Select RESET TO FACTORY DEFAULTS and reboot.

More TV is never a bad thing

The venture, which would be called Black Entertainment Satellite Television or BEStv, would initially offer viewers between five and ten channels and cost less than R100 a month.

Andrew Jones, spokesperson for the venture, said once in place, the company planned to upgrade to a service that would offer viewers a sampling of between 100 and 300 new channels not available on DStv with no significant rate increase.

"How we will do it and what exactly we will offer remains of course a trade secret. However, we are 100 percent confident that what we want to do can be done," he said in statement.

It's that use of the word 'sampling', and the fact that I know what it takes to put one single channel on air, that makes me slightly suspicious of their claims of "between 100 and 300 new channels"...

November 21, 2005

Google-mart

"The probable answer lies in one of Google's underground parking garages in Mountain View. There, in a secret area off-limits even to regular GoogleFolk, is a shipping container. But it isn't just any shipping container."